News about Korean new media such as Internet and mobile tech but also on conventional media such as TV, radio, film and newspapers. Purpose of this blog is to function as reference material for a research project (2006-2009) on Korean media and new media, a part of the OED research group and funded by HS Foundation (see: Affiliations). Special thanks to research assistant Katja Heinonen who took care of the blog in 2007-2008.

Yesterday the MBC program “The Producer’s Notebook” apologized on the air for its mad cow disease report, giving in to the Korea Communications Commission’s binding order to do so. Procedures do exist for challenging the order, but the broadcaster chose against that option and has reassigned the producer responsible as internal censure. The management’s decision goes directly against the position of the news media professionals who have resisted the prosecution’s investigation and the commission’s sanctions, seeing them as suppression of the media. It is also a betrayal of the country, which has trusted and supported the program.